Fun with The Doctor

I got a couple emails that really made me chuckle regarding the recent strips involving The Doctor’s TARDIS and Brent’s obsession with life-sized prop relicas.

First came this email from PvP reader Tara Wheeler who send me the following:

Dude. We’re laughing so hard at today’s PVP strip.

Some dear friends in Austin, TX built this for me from scratch using plans I’ve had since the early 80’s.

In the UK, you used to be able to buy, ready made, full sized Police Box props. And just like in your strip, you’d order them, pay a bunch of money and then wait months if not years to get it.

I’ve seen a couple of those ready made TARDISes (or is it TARDI?) and they’re pretty good, but mostly made out of pressboard. Every once in a while you’ll see one for sale on eBay. I think the average price was about $1,000 Ã‚Â£ back in the 80’s when I was there. They might be more now, if they’re still being made.

My TARDIS is made mostly out of plywood and weighs about 1,000 pounds. It breaks down in to pieces you can lug through a standard doorway. It has an onboard Mac Mini, which controls its own webcam, sound effects and lights. I remote in to it (using either my iPhone or PowerBook) and then look through the webcam and play sound effects to screw with people. Yeah, I’m a geek.

I couldn’t tell you how much it cost. It took us two years to build it. It’s got at least six full sheets of plywood in it, probably twenty 2x4s, forty 1X2s, two gallons of paint, and Jebus only knows how much various scrap.

It will be making its first personal appearance at Gallifrey One, a Doctor Who Convention in Los Angeles in February.

Who knew. I just assumed nobody would ever make, let alone try to market and sell a Tardis that would take up a corner of a living room. I guess I underestimated the dedication of the Who Community. That just makes this story arc even cooler for me to write.

The 2nd email was from my very own father who knocked me over with the knowledge that he even got the gag in the strips. I had no idea that he was aware of Doctor Who as he’s never mentioned it in the 37 years I’ve known him. Not only does he know it, but he mocks me for liking it. Read for yourself:

Say What?! Naaaaw Ã¢â‚¬Â¦. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Ã¢â‚¬Å“Say WhoÃ¢â‚¬Â!

Since when are you Ã¢â‚¬Å“WoW GeekÃ¢â‚¬â„¢sÃ¢â‚¬Â into the Dalek scene? 1963 to 1989? Isn’t that a little crusty and wrinkled (and weird, even in my day).